Adopt a Black Child Campaign Debuts in San Francisco's Castro

Thanks to Alicia Banks for the heads up: In San Francisco's overwhelmingly vanilla Castro District, a startling oversized billboard debuted several days ago that features a black gay couple and child. It reads: "I Never Knew How Proud I Could Be."

The PROUD campaign is created by Better World Advertising. Critically-acclaimed  San Francisco-based photographer Duane Cramer brought the initiative to life with his vision. The goal is to get is to get black families—whether single parents, or LGBT or straight couples—to adopt black children. the campaign's footprint will be considerable—large billboards, adverts on Muni, BART, coffee sleeves and print ads that will blanket the Bay Area over the next year. Duane Cramer adds: "There will be a large float and contingent in the San Francisco Pride parade."

The debut in the overwhelmingly white Castro was no accident, Duane Cramer tells Rod 2.0. "As you know, the Black population in San Francisco is very low, maybe 6% or 7%.  The ad is of two gay men who just happen to be Black.  We, as black people, are so used to messages and ads featuring whites ... and we have to figure out how we choose to buy into the product, idea or messaging.  This time the opposite will hopefully happen."

Comments

[alicia banks]

thank you rod!!!

this is so necessary!...

i have been getting hate mail from fools bashing gay parents...

as if gangs and prisons are not filled with the children of hets!!!

peace
ab

[Cocoa Rican]

What's the story with NYC? We already have one kid...maybe we can change a life - even our own - and adopt.

[soulbrotha]

What a wonderfully positive breath of fresh air! Thank you, Rod.

[KevJack]

This is great stuff. I hope the campaign is a smashing success.

[ReggieH]

I do wish the campaign much success. I'm sure some of those kids in the Castro are gagging to see two black men together!

Now to place the billboard in some black and mixed neighborhoods....

[apres moi]

Wow. this is needed. I hope this was placed in plain view from the Badlands and Toad Hall, where the Pendulum to used be.

[JG, III]

Interestingly, if you really understand the impact HIV/AIDS had on the remaining black gay population in San Francisco, you’ll understand the seeming neglect towards people of color has had in this community. It wasn’t always this way.

Some would have us believe, that HIV/AIDS hasn’t had a significant impact on the African American community. Then, I say, if AIDS hadn’t of happened, then the black gays remaining would have had more opportunities to raise their siblings’ children who were in foster care due to our stupid three-strikes laws from crack cocaine.

In essence, the African American community had an intellectual drain and a resource drain from the AIDS pandemic, and then you couple that with crack cocaine problem that just overwhelmed the community, and poor public policies.